Cinnamon

Cinnamon made Salty Running, takes lots of pictures and drinks lots of coffee. She has 8 more minutes to knock off her marathon for a 3:40 BQ, and will get there or die trying. Her writing is an eclectic mix of finding wholeness as an average runner, news reporting, curious reactions, satirical humor and more.

Hello, ladies! I’m pleased and proud to be the first blogger other than my big sis to join the Salty Girls. I know her vision of Salty Running is so much more than a blog – it’s a community where we can encourage each other to rise to our challenges and become better athletes, and I hope my posts will do just that for you!

With that goal in mind I plan to share my experience as a busy runner. I know we’ve all got jobs to do, but seriously, being a distance runner with my job is insane–currently I’m a production assistant in New York’s film and television industry. I’m hoping to one day become a camera operator, but for now I work for the Assistant Directors, or ADs, literally running around the set helping to make everything we do happen on time. Here’s the run-down of why this job keeps me so busy:

Here's me on the set of Premium Rush last year

The working day on a film set is scheduled to be 12 hours long, but it often goes beyond that-sometimes well beyond! Try squeezing in a tempo after a 18 hours on your feet. The nature of my job is such that I’m in about an hour before the crew and leave about an hour after, which puts me on my feet for a 14 hour day when we’re shooting on schedule. The reality however, is that my average day is 15-16 hours not-including commute time, which can vary drastically since our location changes every day. Oh yeah, and what I do changes every day as well–today I’m managing 90 background actors at two different locations. Still think your work week looks crazy?

You might think I’m nuts to do this job (especially for how little I’m paid), and you’re probably right, but I love it! A lot of my coworkers think I’m nuts for running, but I love that too! I’m not willing to give either one up just yet so for now they’re gonna have to live together. So far I’m making it work but it’s certainly a constant challenge.

Next time I write I’ll get into some of my strategies for cramming mileage into my tight schedule, and hopefully hear some of yours too! But for now, I really gotta run!